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v1.25 (3 changes)
Admins, please make this a sticky as a lot of people come here looking for this information.
I will try to keep this updated as long as this is a sticky so the information can be a valuable
resource for those looking to switch.
(Thanks guys)
Switching to T-Mobile after ordering an mpx200 from Amazon:
1. Order the phone with plan and contract from Amazon. (Doesn’t matter which plan unless
you plan on keeping the account after switching). Do not try to take advantage of the rebates
as they require you to stay with AT&T and have a service contract with AT&T.
2. When you receive the phone, you will be in one of two situations:
a. Your phone is activated as soon as you turn it on.
b. Your phone is not activated yet and does not have a number attached to it yet. If this
is your situation you'll need to hold off canceling AT&T service until it does become active.
However, this does not mean you can't switch to T-Mobile right away...it just means you have to
keep an eye on when the account actually becomes active. The best way to tell is when you get the
email from Amazon telling you what your phone number is. As soon as you get this number you can
proceed with step 5 below (after you've followed the other steps first of course).
3a. Put down your phone and go to a T-Mobile store and sign up for whatever plan you want to get
with them. Get one of their free or nearly free phones and get it activated so you can make calls
from the phone.
3b. If you want to get the unlimited data plan there is one thing you must be careful about. If you
get signed up as a "SmartAccess" customer the unlimited data plan is not available to you as they
do not allow their credit-risk customers to get it for some idiotic reason (this is the reason I
went back to AT&T). You may get lucky but even threatening to leave T-Mobile will not get them to
add it on. It is apparently something that even managers cannot force.
4. Email jhongsunlock@yahoo.ca and ask about getting your unlock code, he will tell you how to
give him the correct information in order to get the unlock code. As far as I know his charge is
still $10 to get the unlock code. Unlocking the phone requires that you have a T-mobile sim (or
a sim from another carrier other than AT&T) so you must complete step 3b in order to unlock it,
unless you have a different carrier's sim already of course. After unlocking it your phone will be
active on the new carrier's network as long as you have service setup.
5. Assuming you are happy with the new service on the T-mobile network (or whichever carrier you
decided to go with), put the AT&T sim back into the mpx200 and call AT&T Customer Care by dialing
611. Request to have the service on the phone cancelled and tell exactly what you are intending to.
If they give you any crap about returning the phone tell them you paid full price through Amazon
so you are not required to return it as you own the phone outright. If they tell you that you will
not be able to switch the phone to the other network just inform them that it is unlocked and is
free to be put on whatever network you want. After getting done with the service rep verify that
your service has been cancelled by checking the phone. The phone should become inactive and it
should read no service. You will receive a bill if you used the account at all before canceling.
These are the only charges you will be billed with as long as you cancel within the first 30 days
after activation of the AT&T account (when you get your phone number). If you get charged with
anything else you either did something wrong or it's time to complain to AT&T to get the charge
removed because of their mistake. To clarify: If you cancel within thirty days you will not get charged the montly fee for your plan, the fee for your internet plan, the activation fee, or any other initial setup or monthly fee....THE ONLY THING THAT YOU WILL HAVE TO PAY FOR IS ANY ACTUAL USAGE OF THE PHONE ON THEIR NETWORK. ie if you made 6 calls, sent 6 text messages, and surfed the internet a few times....that is all you will have to pay for...and that is a pro-rated amount...so it's not the full price of the service plan.
At this point you are free to use it on the T-mobile network (or whatever network you chose). You
will still need to configure the phone for the internet access on the new network, but I will not
cover that now as that is outside the scope of this tutorial.
If anyone has any questions or comments please post a reply to this and I will try to answer them
as best as I can. I will make any needed changes or additions if they are needed. Any changes made
will be put in as bold so it will clarify things if they are incorrect.
Edit: The deal with how you can get that $269 price through Amazon and still be able to keep the phone...
Basically Amazon only requires that you purchase the phone with a service plan (the monthly bill plan)(you don't even have to get buy it with a service contract). If you buy it with a service plan you get the $269 price....it does not matter if you cancel as soon as you get the phone activated on the AT&T network, you can still keep the phone.
To get either of the rebates though you have to sign a service contract with AT&T otherwise you cannot get the rebates. This means basically if you plan on switching within the first 30 days of AT&T service, you cannot get either of the rebates that amazon lists on the page for the mpx200.
UPDATE 1/4/2004: Amazon has raised the price of the mpx200. It is now $269 without rebates. Also the AT&T rebated can no longer be used as of 1/3/04 as that's when it expired. You can still send in the rebate as long as you bought it before 1/3/04.
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